Understanding problems and solving them are two of the main advantages that experts around the world attribute to artificial intelligence (AI), this technology combining mathematics and cognitive science and which simulates human intelligence. Created in the 1960s, we heard little about it until the last decade. However, “eight years ago, everything was revolutionized and today we are entering the second AI revolution”, affirms the philosopher of science Jean Staune who delivered a masterful keynote during the World Electronics Forum organized on April 17 and 18 in Rabat, Morocco. According to him, all continents, including Africa, cannot escape these technological changes, except that to fully navigate this “second AI revolution”it would be necessary, he believes, “to lead the younger generations to master its contours”.
Between opportunities and risks?
Even if it remains less widespread than in Europe, America or Asia, artificial intelligence is becoming more and more talked about in Africa. In spring 2019, the arrival in Kigali – Rwanda – of Sophia, the humanoid robot included among the speakers at the Transform Africa Summit remains etched in memories. Since then, we have seen the emergence of experts, sometimes very young, including African women. Likewise, all forums and conferences around digital automatically raise topics related to the development of AI which many companies are already using. Moreover, a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) indicated that between 2019 and 2022, 46% of African CEOs planned to launch an AI project.
“It is the search for efficiency and effectiveness that favored the birth of artificial intelligence,” recalls Brutus Sadou Diakité, from Orange. “Humans are generally very intelligent, but cannot process large amounts of data. After making a journey just once, humans will have difficulty making an extremely precise decision based on everything they have seen along the way, because they only remember 10%. he explains, adding that “AI, on the other hand, is a machine or software that has the capacity to search through all the data to help quickly make a precise decision.” In the context of accelerating socio-economic development in which the African continent finds itself, such technological innovations ” are useful “estimates this digital expert.
While one of the major debates around artificial intelligence is that of the future of employment, opinions are divided. On a continent where the average unemployment rate in 2023 is 5.8% according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the debate makes even more sense. Jean Staune, in particular, mentions several risks linked to the current AI revolution, including “the risk that an AI, even if it is not conscious, ends up replacing humans”. “There is indeed a form of AI that is starting to arrive. If it is not managed responsibly, it can cause damage, because it is an AI capable of searching for information everywhere, processing it and making decisions based on its results.explains Brutus Diakité.
“With emotionless AI, no fear for humans”
Gustavo Montero, international expert and boss of companies in the field of High Tech, believes that fears should be qualified, because, he says, the probability of an almost complete humanization of AI remains “uncertain and if possible very distant”. He goes further: “As long as we can’t teach AI emotions, I personally feel there’s not much to fear about humans.” His arguments: “even if they have sometimes made certain functions useless, all waves of innovation have created jobs, in one way or another”he says, emphasizing that the challenge is mainly linked to education. “Things could become complicated if we keep today’s configuration where we have one world that is digitally educated and another that is not. Because digitally educated people will be able to easily navigate and evolve in an AI world, when it would be difficult for those not digitally educated.”
The recurring call
If voices are being raised recently on the continent evoking the fact that before talking about the development of artificial intelligence, it is necessary to resolve once and for all the problem of connectivity, banks, industries and service companies etc. are succeeding in strengthening the efficiency of their processes thanks to AI solutions. But in an Africa which has demonstrated its capacity to make technological leaps, is its ability to carry out an AI revolution adapted to its socio-economic realities not a field to be explored, both by governments and businesses? than by the Tech ecosystem?
